Sheet-feeding mechanism



Dec. 18, 1928.. 1,696,114

- 5. F. 1-1. GOFFIN SHEET FEEDING MECHANISM Filed July 18, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet l x v QC I :::;1 L 1 i 1 .1 i a 1 l E s E i F/G. Z

.Izz me la Z07 Dec. 18, 1928.

S. F. H. GOFFIN SHEET FEEDING MECHANISM ed uly 18, 1927 W" guts-She? 2 F/GZ Affy- Patented Dec. 18, 1928 UNITED STA res PATENT OF F cE.

SHEET-FEEDING MECHANISM.

Application filed July 18, 1927, Serial No. 206,714, and in Great Britain July 27, 1926.'

This invention has for its object to provide an improved mechanism for feeding paper and like sheets, envelopes and the like to and through printing and similar machines. Tl 1e invention is particularly applicable as an at tachmenlt to machines for printing addresses on envelopes or sheets and can be applied either to feeding envelopes or slips one at a time to printing position or to give an intermittent spacing feed to a sheet.

A further object of the invention is to provide a sheet feeding mechanism in which the sheet or the like to be fed is gripped along an edge parallel to the movement of a relatively fixed reciprocating gripper.

A' further object is to provide a mechanism in which the sheet, envelope, slip or the likchereinaftcr referred to as a sheetto be fed is spring-pressed against the reciprocating gripper member during the feeding movement and is moved away therefrom just prior to the return movement and is gripped in fixed position during this return movement. This mechanism for holding the strip in fixed position I will refer to as the holdfast mechanism. i

A further object is to provide a mechanism for feeding sheets from a pile in which the sheets are prevented from forward move ment by a stop and means are provided to arch the topmost sheet to clear the stop. \Vith these and other objects in view the invention consists in the improved constructions and combinations hereinafter described in detail and set out in the claims.

Although in the description given in detail later each movement of the addressing machine is referred to as picking up asheet and moving it forward to the printing position while at the same time the previous sheet is again gripped by the moving gripper and fed out, it is obvious that if a single sheet is fed in and the gauge stops are adjusted to give a short feed only, the sheet can be fed gradually by repeated strokes of the machine so as to produce a series" of prints in" the form of a list upon the same sheet instead of one print upon a series of sheets.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate the invention:

Fig. 1 represents a plan view of one form of apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention,

Fig. 2 represents an elevation of the lower portion of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1 with certain parts removed for the sake of clcarness.

Fig. 3 represents a cross section taken on the line I-I of Fig. 1, i

Figs 4 and 5 represent cross sections to enlarged scale taken upon the line IIII of Fig. 1 with parts in alternative positions, certain parts having been omitted in F ig. 4 for the sake of simplicity.

Fig. 6 represents side views somewhat similar to Fig. 2, but with the parts in alternatlve positions. I r

Referring to these drawings, the recipro eating gripper member is formed by a rubber gripping strip a on the under side of a long rod 6 which is guided so as to be capable of moving in a fixed plane and'is connected by a link 0 with a part of the machine from which a reciprocating movement is obtained; the transmission mechanism is such that the stroke of the rod 6 can be adjusted.

' The pack of sheets 00 to be fed is place upon a table A. and are pressed upwards by spring pressure or gravity. At the side of thereciprocating gripper a. hold-faststrip B is arranged and beyond the table A a spring-pressed plate D is arranged below the gripper a and hold-fast strip I The plate D and hold-fast strip B are so arranged and operated that when the rod 7) moves forward to feed a sheet, the edge of the sheet is moved forward between the gripper a and the plate D, the parts then being in the position shown in Fig. 4. The gripper a acts to slide the sheet over the plate D, which plate isof courseheld against lone gitudinal movement. When the rod 6 reaches a point near the end of its stroke a mechanism is tripped which allows the hold-fast strip B to move downwards to the position shownin Fig. 5 thus driving the plate D clear of the gripper a, .7) and holding the sheet fast against the plate D while the rod 7) returns to initial position thereupon a trip mechanism allows the hold-fast strip B to return to initial position and the plate I) to move to its initial position.

The hold-fast strip Bis suspended by a lock link E from a bell-crank F to the upper arm of which is pivoted a spindle g which passes through an arm G projecting from the reciprocating gripper rod 7), Figs. 1, 2; a spring h is arranged on the spindle and so connected that it can act in tension or com pression. y

The plate D has vertical rods (5 projecting through a fixed or frame bar H and a fiat spring 2', which is pivoted centrally to a pin j projecting from the hold-fast strip B, engages notches in these pins so that the. plate Dis held up by this spring. The pm 7' on which this spring is pivoted also forms the pivot for the lock link E.

The operation of the bell crank F is controlled by latches J, K adapted to enter notches e, f on either side of the lock linh E. These latches are conveniently formed on angle shaped members capable of slid ing upon the frame bar H and are connected together by a spring in. The latch bar K carries at its end an adjustable gauge stop L with which a lug m projecting from the rod 12 engages as it nears the end of its stroke and the latch bar J carries a corresponding gauge stop M with which the lug m engages juslt lgefore the other end of the stroke of the IO( The operation is as follows. Assuming that the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 1 and that the bar I) is moving in the direction of the arrows. The bell-crank F is then in the position shown in Fig. 6 and the spring It is being tensioned tending to drive the bar B down by means of the lock link D; the latch K however is in engage ment with the notch fand prevents the spring from moving the bell-crank. When the lug m reaches the gauge stop L it moves the latch bar K and so withdraws it from the notch f thus allowing the spring h to pull the bellcrank over from the position shown in Fig. 6 to that shown in Fig. 2 and therefore moving the lock fast strip B and plate D from the position shown in Fig. 4 to that shown in Fig. 5. The movement ofthe latch plate K will have tensioned the spring is and therefore made the latch J ready to snap into the notch 0 thus locking the parts in the position shown in Fig. 2.

The sheet is now gripped positively in its advanced position and can therefore be subjected to a printing or other operation. As the. rod 11 returns the spring h, will towards the end of the movement of the rod, become in compression and the lug m ultimately engages the stop M thus withdrawing the latch plate J which allows the bell-crank to pull the parts back to the position shown in Figs. 4. and 6.

In this movement the parts B. D first move up together until the plate D encounters the rod 6 but further movement of the hold-fast strip B can then take place by the deflection of the spring'i. To form a convenient method of supporting and guiding the rod 6 from the frame member H; the rod may be provided,

as shown in Figs. 4, 5 with a slot which works on rollers 11 supported by the member H.

To overcome the tendency of lower sheets to feed forward with the topmost a stop N is provided, the height of which is adjusted so as to be above the topmost sheet; the latter is then caused to bow upwards sulliciently to allow it to pass over the stop. This is effected by Incansot' a triangular roller P which is given a third turn at every stroke of the rod]; by a pawl 72 operated by a compound pinion and rack gearing Q; R, g, r from the rod 1). This roller P is provided with ribbed rubber or other suitable gripping surfaces 2% and on being given a third of a turn it causes the topmost sheet to arch up and then. releases it so that it slips purl way back to the bowed form shown in Fig. 3 which enables it to be moved over the stop N while the other sheets are retained. In order to hold thetopmost sheetin a bowed position pins s project below an adjustable bail S which normally rests on the topmost sheet; the roller causes the topmost sheet to pass beyond the pins .9 which prevent it from resuming a flat position.

It is to be understood thatthe invention is not restricted to the exact details shown and described but embraces such modifications as come within the ambit of the acconr panying claims.

It is also to be understood that the apparatus may be arranged in a manner upside down in relation to that illustrated in the drawings and that the following claims are to he regarded as covering such arrangements with suitable substitution of lowermost for topmost down for up, and so on.

I claim 1. A sheet feeding mechanismcomprising a reciprocating gripper, a. spring-pressed guide for presslng the edge of a sheet against the gripper while it moves in one direction and hold fast means for pressing said sheet against the guide and moving the sheet and guide out of contact with the gripper and holding the sheet stationary while the gripper returns.

A sheet feeding mechanism comprising a gripper, intermittent means for bringing said gripper into contact with the edge of a sheet, means for moving said gripper parallel to said edge while in contact with said sheet, means for releasing said gripper, hold-fast means for holding said sheet in its new position when released by the gripper meansfor returning said gripper and means for throwing the hold-fast device out of action when the reciprocating member reaches the end of its return movement.

3. A sheet feeding mechanism comprising a reciprocating gripper, a guide, means for holding a sheet between said gripper and said guide, a hold-fast bar; a lock normally preventing said hold-fast bar from engaging the sheet, a spring tensioned by the feeding movement of said gripper and a latch for releasing said lock to release said hold-fast device when the gripper reaches the end of its feed movement. 7

4. A sheet feeding mechanism comprising a receptacle for a pile of sheets, a stopfor preventing forward movement of the sheets, means for feedingforward the topmost sheet and means for arching said topmost sheet in line with the stop to permit the feeding of the sheet over the stop.

5. A sheet feeding mechanism comprising a receptacle for a pile of sheets, a stop for preventing forward movement of the sheets, means for feeding forward the topmost sheet, a triangular roller engaging the topmost sheet and means for giving a part rotation to said roller prior to the operation of the feed ing means.

6. A sheet feeding mechanism comprising a receptacle for a pile of sheets, a stop for preventing forward movement of the sheets, means for feeding forward the topmost sheet, a gapped roller engaging the topmost sheet, means for giving said roller a part rotation while in contact with sheet and bowing it transversely, and a means preventing the sheet from returning to flat position when released by the roller.

7 An addressing machine attachment for feeding sheets from a pile comprising a receptacle for a pile of sheets, a reciprocating gripper, means for causing said gripper to engage the topmost sheet along the edge thereof parallel to the direction of reciprocation of the gripper and to feed said sheet forward to printing position, means for releasing said sheet while said gripper returns, and means for feeding said sheet a further step forward as the gripper again moves forward.

8. A sheet feeding mechanism comprising a gripper adapted for longitudinal movement in a fixed plane, a plate held against movement in the direction of gripper movement to support the sheet during feeding movement of the gripper, said plate being movable in a direction transverse the gripper movement to free the sheet relative to the gripper,

9. A sheet feeding IHGOlltl-IIISIII. comprising a gripper adapted for longitudinal move-- ment in a fixed plane, a plate held against movement in the direction of gripper movement to support the sheet during feeding movement of the gripper, said plate being movable in a direction transverse the gripper movement to free the sheet relative to the grlpper, and means for moving the plate in a plane transverse the gripper to free the sheet, said means serving to hold the sheet hold the sheet relative to the plate during movement of the gripper in one direction.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

SYDNEY FREDERICK HERBERT GOFFIN. 

